Miscellany in a rental car

As I am waiting the kids to snore and sniff the night away, and since the nice lady at the reception does not want to let me sit in the lobby waiting for breakfast time, I am blogging my waking night away with random thoughts and breaking news from the campaign trail.

It is 5.00 am, I am on the parking lot of an Econolodge (more econo than lodge) in Springfied, Missouri, and I don't see any candidate around. Yet, surprisingly, Missouri is a battleground this year.

Missouri is one of the few traditionally red states which are about to turn blue this year, if something horrific does not happen before. Among the other states in the same situation are North Carolina, Nevada and Virginia. It does not sound crazy, but trust me, it is.

Obama could be elected in a landslide.

Yet, some people are talking about the Bradley effect. Bradley was a black candidate running for mayor of Los Angeles in the eighties. The polls saw him win easily. On Election Day, he lost. Many people had said they would vote for him, but at the last minute, in the privacy of the booth, they did not vote for the black guy. This is the Bradley effect.

Some journalists who like to scare themselves argue there might be a Bradley effect with Obama. Others argue, however, that if there was to be a Bradley effect, it would have taken place during the primaries. They are probably right.

Two days ago, the chairman of the Republican Party in Virginia declared that both Obama and Bin Laden have friends who bombed the Pentagon, and that's scary.

I don't think I need to comment on that.

A few days ago, at McCain/Palin rallies, there was a sign saying Obama Bin Lyin'.

Also, there was a man holding a stuffed monkey with an Obama head band.

I don't think I need to comment on those either.

McCain and Palin have not yet repudiated the "Kill him!" and "Off with his head!" shouts heard at their rallies.

Last Friday, an independent investigation declared that Palin had abused her power in Alaska.

All weekend, Palin was declaring that she was very happy that the investigation cleared her of any legal infraction.

Go figure.

Tonight is the last debate, and I hope my hosts will let me watch it.

I'm gonna try to grab some breakfast now.